"Well, I..."

Yue's head keeps jerking toward the horizon. Did she lose track of the time? Obviously yes, but was she, is it, I mean, something feels... not right about the sky today. And she doesn't exactly have to be a double super secret heir to the, uh... the... what was it again? The Twin Somethings of Something Something and Painting? Right, well, she doesn't have to be [i]that[/i] to have a pretty good idea why twilight is sending her heart a skip, a skip, a skip skip skipping like a hummingbird on a quiz show. 

Cyanis' ears are flattened and miserable. Hyra's ears are flattened and miserable. Kat's ears are... well, Kat has just gone full-body flat and miserable. It's a flat and miserable festival for the cute ear crew, which is reason enough to worry about the darkening sky. There's only one thing she can think of that would spook them one and all like that, and now that she's thought of it she'd really rather not say it's name out loud just in case that's some kind of magic spell to summon it here. And, well, if she had a wish in her heart it probably would be something like a good week's head start on this feeling, maybe somewhere clean and warm and bright with a beautiful breeze. She'd read about oceans, once. Maybe there? Or were Ocean Demons ten times worse than River ones? Oh gosh.

"I..."

She swallows, bravely. Her arms are full of scrabbling, panicky fox scratching up her skin where her dress doesn't come with added benefits like armor or sleeves. She squirms and tries to pin Kat tight, but the usual calming rituals aren't helping at all! She's yipping and howling and eyeing The Bag with big, reproachful eyes that would shatter the hearts of ten thousand warriors, were they less prepared than Yue is. But still. But still! Kat, please... quit... you need to, nnnf, will you just..!

"Katherine Isabella Fluffybiscuits!" Yue's voice rings like a bell. It almost makes her jump to hear how clear and sharp it is, "Stop squirming this instant! I need you to do me an extra special Good Girl favor and let me put you where it's safe, ok? Because I... I need to know where you are right now and I can't hold you and this sword at the same... look, see? There's a sword for you too! You get to be a Guard Foxie, isn't that great? Who's so special, huh? Who's my special girl??"

And her words turn soothing and singsong, and her fox turns from rambunctious to proud and squirmy, as little Kat becomes the first of the Triangle Girls to perk up again, if only for a second. Yue lifts her up for nose kissies, and! Oh! Life is perfect! Life is ever so grand and fluffy! She barely growls at all as her idiot mistress tucks her away in the bag to protect the pretty ghost lady's shiny treasure. Wow! So cool and neat! Yip yip, the sound of a guardian who would ward off evil spirits! Yip, yip! Look upon my arfs, ye mighty!

Yue blushes and turns away from Cyanis. Her dress swirls and bursts with all the motion of a waterfall with ever small, shy twist of her body, but for all it is a thing of battle, her spirit leaves her seeming cold and tired and ashamed. Her hands reach up constantly to pull and worry at her soft brown hair, the way a maiden might when considering a wedding proposal.

"I..." she swallows, "I already told you my wish. I have to fix Hyra. I have to! I promised I'd do everything I could to help her, so if I..."

She drops to one knee and wraps her arm around Hyra's wolfen body. They press close together, sharing warmth and safety and the kind of extra special trust you can only pick up after running through the woods together for a single night while being chased by terrifying princesses and Princesses and weirdly attractive buff sword demons. The kind of soul-bound connection that comes from sharing rushed and un-honeyed cups of tea, but more importantly from showing what it meant for birds to fly, for lightning to fall from the sky, and what it was like to trust a silly girl from a tiny village with no marketable skills whatsoever to hold a sword and treat it like she deserved to have it.

"S-so unless I... no, but I don't have anything that's worth two wishes, so, except maybe these clothes? Oh but there's a ghost inside them so you probably don't... I mean, um. No. I'm sorry Cyanis, but that's my wish. I know you said it's hard and you need more tails, but I couldn't do it, ok? I tried my best and this is all I've got for you right now! So just, just try, please, ok? Just, just... just."

She looks at her friend, and... she [i]is[/i] a friend, right? She's never had a friend before, really actually, unless you counted Kat (which obviously she [i]does[/i] but no one else ever seemed to?), has no idea of the ins and outs and speed of this sort of thing. Was this a market haggle thingy or was it ok that this sweet little fox spirit with such big dreams snuck a smile out of her even in a moment where everything was promising to be scary and bad? That's what friendship is, right? She hasn't screwed up? Because that'd be awful fast, if she has. And it'd be awful like her, too.

"I'll pay extra, ok? I never break a promise. Never ever. Not even never never ever never."